Ratchet clutch handle



y 1954 T. J. GIANNONE RATCHET CLUTCH HANDLE Filed May 23, 1952 IN V EN TOR.

s E Y M m m n a 4 J W S 4 fl W m Patented May 25, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RATCHET CLUTCH HANDLE Thomas J. Giannone, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application May 23, 1952, Serial No. 289,578

2 Claims.

This invention relates to hand tools, and more particularly, has reference to a tool of the type referred to wherein a handle and a shaft are provided with interengaging clutch elements so arranged as to cause the handle and shaft to be engaged for joint rotation when the handle is manually urged in the direction of a piece of work engaged by the shaft, said clutch elements being further adapted to become disengaged when pressure on the handle is lessened, thus to permit relative rotation of the handle and shaft.

The desirability of a hand tool construction wherein rotation of the handle in one direction will rotate a work-engaging shaft, with the shaft remaining stationary on rotation of the handle in an opposite direction, is well appreciated by those using hand tools frequently. Heretofore, ratchet wrenches and screw drivers have found wide spread favor, by reason of this characteristic thereof. However, in most instances, special machine tools are required to permit manufacture of wrenches, screw drivers, and other hand tools of this type, with an attendant increase in overall manufacturing cost.

Additionally, those hand tools of which I have knowledge, and which possess the desirable characteristics noted above, are usually so formed as to require that one particular type of workengaging shaft be permanently associated with a handle.

Accordingly, one of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a hand tool so designed as to cause the handle and shaft to be engaged for joint rotation when the handle is given a normal pressure in the direction of the work, and to become disengaged when said pressure is lessened.

Another important object is to provide a hand tool of the character referred to wherein the work-engaging shaft will be readily removed from the handle, for substitution of a new shaft of a different type, thereby to provide a universal tool and permit a considerable reduction in expense so far as the user of tools of this type is concerned.

Still another object of importance is to provide a hand tool as described which will possess the desirable characteristics noted above, and which will yet be so designed as to permit its manufacture without the requirement of special u machinery, the components of the tool being inherently conventional.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hand tool which, though simple in design and capable of manufacture at relatively low cost, will yet be rugged and capable of heavy work.

Additional objects of theinvention are to provide a hand tool having clutch elements on the shaft and handle respectively,- that will engage when the handle is urged in the direction of a piece of work engaged by the shaft; having a cam means on the handle and shaft respectively, arranged to bias the handle in an opposite direction, for disengagement of the clutch elements, when pressure on the handle is lessened; and further having a shaft lock operable manually by a user, for releasably engaging the handle and shaft against relative rotation and against relative longitudinal movement whenever desired, thus to permit use of the tool as a conventional wrench, screw driver, or the like having a handle and shaft fixedly joined to one another.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawi g, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a hand tool formed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

The hand tool constituting the present invention has, as main components thereof, a handle I 0, a shaft ill, a clutch assembly l4, means i6 for normally disengaging the elements of the clutch assembly, and a shaft lock IS.

The handle I 0 comprises an elongated, generally cylindrical body 20 integral at one end with a tapered or frustro conical middle part 22 merging into an axial extension 24 reduced in diameter relative to the diameter of the body 26.

That end of the body 26 remote from the tapered middle part 22 is formed with a centrally disposed, non-circular recess 26 which in the present instance, but not necessarily, is of rectangular cross sectional configuration.

A tongue 28 complements and is receivable in the recess 26, and is formed as an integral part of a disc 30 overlying that end of the body 26 in which the recess 26 is formed, said disc being integrally or otherwise rigidly formed with diametrically opposite wings 32 proportioned to be gripped by a user for the purpose of rotating the handle.

For the purpose of separably connecting the body 26 and disc 30 for joint rotation, detent means is provided including a ball element 34 mounted in a transverse opening formed in the body 20, for movement radially and inwardly of said body, said ball element when shifted inwardly of the body 20 seating in a shallow depression 36 formed in one face of the tongue 28. A spring 38 is mounted in said opening of the body and is held under compression between the ball element 34 and a threaded plug 40, so as to normally urge the ball element 34 into said depression. The threaded plug 40 is engaged in internal threads formed in the opening of the body.

By reason of the construction illustrated and described, it is seen that a torque handle is provided, that is removable from the body 2B whenever desired.

That end of the handle 20 remote from the disc 30 is formed with an elongated axial socket 42, and mounted in said socket for rotation and for movement in the direction of its own length. is a shank 44 having one end projecting beyond the handle l and formed with a work-engaging formation 46. In the illustrated example, a screw driver bit is formed upon the shank 46, but it will be readily appreciated that other types of work-engaging formations can be used, if desired. It is, in fact, an important characteristic of the invention that the shank 44 can be removed bodily from the handle it, for substitution of another shaft having a different type of work-engaging formation on its projecting end.

Formed upon the intermediate portion of the shank 44, or otherwise rigidly secured to the shank, is a clutch disc 48, said disc being circumposed about the shank and having on one of its surfaces a circumferential series of radially extending clutch teeth 50. Said teeth are adapted to engage between a complementary series of teeth 52 formed upon the adjacent end of the axial extension 24 of the handle it, when the handle is given longitudinal movement relative to the shaft l2 in the direction of a piece of work engaged by the formation 46 of the shaft. The shank 44 and formation 46 together constitute the shaft 12.

From the above, it will be seen that the clutch assembly l4 includes clutch elements on the shaft and handle respectively, the clutch element of the handle being formed as a clutch face having teeth complementary to a clutch disc 48 formed upon the shaft. It will be further appreciated that when the work-engaging formation 46 is placed in engagement with a piece of work, one grasping the handle Hi is enabled to urge the handle in the direction of the piece of work, as a result of which the handle is shifted longitudinally relative to the shaft 44, thus to engage the clutch elements of the handle and shaft and link the handle and shaft for joint rotation. It may be noted, in this connection, that the pressure exerted against the handle is one that is exerted naturally by a user, during use of a hand tool of the type referred to.

Means is provided on the handle and shaft respectively, that is adapted to normally bias the i andle longitudinally of the shaft in a direction away from the work-engaging formation 65, thus to normally disengage the clutch elements. To this end, a circumferential groove 54 is formed in that portion of the shank 44 disposed within the axial socket 42 of the handle, said groove 54 being concavely formed so far as the cross sectional configuration thereof is concerned, thus to provide in the groove gradually sloping, curved side walls extending downwardly to the midwidth portion of the groove (see Figure 2).

Said means further includes ball elements 56 mounted in the axial extension 24 of the handle, said extension having diametrically opposite, radial openings in which said ball elements are mounted. The ball elements are spring-loaded, through the medium of springs 58, said springs being held under compression between the respective ball elements and threaded plugs 60' engaged in the openings of the axial extension 24. Thus, the ball elements are movably mounted in the handle, to move along lines radial of the shank 44. In this connection, when the clutch elements of the handle and shaft are disengaged, the ball elements 56 will be disposed at the midwidth portion of and will be seated in the circumferential groove 54 of the shaft.

When pressure is exerted against the handle 50, tending to shift the same longitudinally of the shank 44 in the direction of the work-engaging formation 45, the ball elements 55 will be forced out of the groove 54 and the clutch elements will be engaged. When, however, said pressure is lessened, the springs 58 will force the ball elements 56 against the sloping side wall of the circumferential groove, so that in effect, cam means is provided on the handle and shaft respectively that is arranged to bias the handle longitudinally of the shaft in a direction away from the work-engaging formation 46. By reason of this arrangement, one using the tcol will first urge the handle 20 toward the work-engaging formation 46, and will rotate the handle for the purpose of rotating the piece of work engaged by said formation. After partial rotation of the handle ID in one direction, the pressure is lessened, resulting in a disengagement of the clutch elements. The user then rotates the handle ID in an opposite direction, the shaft 44 now remaining stationary. The operation is continued until the work has been rotated to the full extent desired.

I provide a shaft lock [8 that allows the user to lock the handle and shaft against relative rotation and against relative longitudinal movement whenever desired, thus to render the clutch assembly and the clutch disengagement means It inoperative and thereby permit use of the tool as a conventional device having a fixedly connected handle and shaft. To this end, diametrically opposite slots 62 are formed in the handle l0, said slots being extended longitudinally of the handle and being so located as to have one end terminating in the body 2 the other ends of the slots terminating in the axial extension 24. The intermediate portions of the slots, as will be noted from Figure 2 and Figure 1, extend the length of the tapered middle part 22 of the handle.

Pivotally mounted in the slots 62 are angular levers 64, said levers being fulcrumed intermediate their ends upon the handle I!) through the medium of pivot pins 56 journaled in the opposite side walls of the slots 62.

At one end, each lever 64 is formed with a slot receiving a pivotal connection whereby the lever is pivotally joined to the outer end of a detent 68, said outer end of each detent 68 being bifurcated to receive the associated end of the lever 64.

The detents 68 are mounted in transverse bores 19 formed in the axial extension 24 at diametrically opposite locations, said detents being movable along lines radial of the shaft 4.

Formed in each transverse bore is a pair of spaced recesses 14, 16. A ball element 12 is mounted in each detent 68, and is spring-loaded so as to be normally urged in the direction of the recesses.

The recesses 14, 16 are so disposed. in this regard, as to cause the ball elements 12 to be disposed in the outer recess 74 of each transverse bore 10, when the levers 64 are manually shifted to the position thereof illustrated in Figure 2.

In this position of the detents 66, said detents are disposed out of engagement with the shank 44. When, however, the levers 64 are manually adjusted to a position in which they will shift the detents radially and inwardly of the handle, the ball elements 12 now move out of the recesses 14 and seat in the recesses 16. In this position of the detents 68, the detents will extend into a transverse opening 18 formed in the shank 44, and will engage the handle and shaft against relative rotation and against relative longitudinal movement.

By reason of the construction illustrated and described, it will be apparent that the shaft can be removed bodily from the handle l0, whenever desired, for substitution of a new shaft having a different type of work-engaging formation 46. Thus, the tool can be manufactured with a complete set of shafts, said shafts having screw driver bits, socket wrenches, etc. To remove the shaft, it is merely necessary that axial pull be exerted on the shaft toward the left in Figure 2. The ball elements will remain in place, since they are of greater diameter than the inner ends of their associated openings. Thereafter, a new shaft is substituted for that which has been removed, and the ball elements 56 are returned to their previous positions relative to the shaft.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited'to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hand tool, a handle and a shaft aligned coaxially and connected for relative rotation and for relative longitudinal movement, the shaft having intermediate its ends a circumferential groove formed with a side wall sloped to define a cam surface, said shaft further having one end projecting beyond one end of the handle and provided with a work-engaging formation; a clutch disc rigid with and circumposed about the shaft intermediate the opposite ends thereof; a clutch face on said end of the handle arranged to interengage with the clutch disc on movement of the handle longitudinally of the shaft in one direction, responsive to pressure exerted against the handle tending to urge the same in the direction of said work-engaging formation, thus to engage the handle and shaft for joint rotation; and ball elements mounted in the handle adjacent said groove for movement along lines radial of the shaft, said ball elements being springloaded for normally urging the same into camming engagement with said side wall of the groove to provide means effective to normally bias the handle longitudinally of the shaft in an opposite direction, thus to normally disengage the clutch disc from the clutch face and thereby permit relative rotation of the handle and shaft.

2. In a hand tool, a handle having a socket and an opening extending radially of and communicating with said socket; a tool shank rotatable within and shiftable longitudinally of the socket and formed with a circumferential, transversely concaved cam groove constant in width throughout its circumference; complementary clutch elements on the handle and shank respectively arranged to engage the same for joint rotation on longitudinal movement of the shank in one direction; and a ball element in said opening spring biased into said groove along a line normal to the length of the shank, so as to exert a cam action against the wall of the groove tending to normally urge the shank longitudinally of the socket to a position in which said ball element is seated in the midwidth part of the groove, said clutch elements being disengaged in said position of the shank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 908,369 Winfrey et al. Dec. 29, 1908 994,804 Wahlstrom June 13, 1911 1,864,466 Peterson June 21, 1932 

